Perhaps you know, or are related to someone that thinks that meditation is just a bunch of hogwash. Or maybe you're the one wondering if the supposed benefits to meditation are for real or just hype from a Chinese hippies.
If you are looking for hard evidence of the physical benefits of meditation, then read on.
Nuero Scientists Find Proof in the Brain
Nuero scientists (those are the brain scientists) have analyzed the brain and charted that the right frontal cortex is the most stress prone. They also know that the left frontal cortex is calmer.
After studying the difference between the brain waves of those that meditate versus those that have never meditated, these nuero scientists found that, guess what, non meditators have more activity in the right frontal cortex. Since that part of the brain is the most stress prone, that means that this group suffered more stress.
They also found that those who practiced meditation regularly had more activity in the left frontal cortex, meaning that they physically felt calmer and more peaceful.
Another unexpected, interesting discovery was that those practicing meditation have less activity in the amygdala, the part of the brain the processes emotions such as fear.
Of course, if the above brain evidence can't convince your skeptic, then there is always the try it out method of proof.
Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., from University of Massachusetts Medical School, proved that learning meditation for as little as 8 weeks caused people to have a shift in their brain waves, causing them to feel overall calmer and happier than they felt before the experiment.
So you see, meditation can be the beginning of a brand new, calmer, happier you. And all you need to start feeling these benefits is to start meditating!
